BREAKING NEWS: Sarah Palin looks good in Haiti

The day the world stood still: Sarah Palin is "there", proudly wearing her "Skinny Raven Sports" t-shirt, closely followed around exclusively by Greta "Cuda stalker" Van Susteren for Fox News and her husband John Coale - and Todd, Bristol and Franklin Graham and his daughter.

As a result, Sarah's foreign policy street cred rose dramatically: After visiting a military base in Kuwait, a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, some hotel in Canada and spending several hours in Hong Kong, she now can tick Haiti off the list. Oh my God, is this unqualified black man still in the White House? The Cuda has seen Haiti! She herself, in person, breathed the air that very poor people breathe, and even touched some of these poor people "Mother Teresa style", while this schmuck Obama spends all his free time uselessly hanging around at golf courses! What else do you want, Americans? Love her NOW!

The holy mother of the North Star, does she look good or what:

Bristol also touched some poor people:

Here is a first clip from the trip, published by Samaritan's Purse:

Oh, no, look, the evil foreign press is picking on poor little Sarah again, despite her tireless and extensive efforts to fight poverty in Haiti! Can you believe it! What is wrong with these people? These Brits with their marxist, despicable free healthcare, what do they have to complain? LEAVE SARAH ALONE!

OK, snark aside: I am certain that Sarah Palin's photo-op in Haiti doesn't fool anyone, apart from Sarah's die-hard fans, who have a long and proud tradition of being fooled by the Quitter Queen.

Sarah's trip was already discussed on the Ed Show, and even the GOP-person finds it difficult to hide the fact that her trip was just an extended photo-op, designed to enhance Sarah's foreign policy credentials:

Let's now take a look at people who REALLY care about Haiti and who are not there for fancy photos and handshakes, but who are there to do real work, invest a lot of time and a lot of effort. People who made real sacrifices and went on a personal mission to help those people who are in a desperate situation. People like "leftist" Hollywood actor Sean Penn.

Sean Penn founded his own relief organization, called "J/P HRO" (Haiti Relief Organization) - see their website:

From their accomplishments:

J/P HRO was founded less than a week after the earthquake when Sean Penn was on the ground in Haiti bringing much needed medical supplies and a team of medical and emergency relief volunteers. Our team immediately went to work treating patients, delivering medical supplies and equipment, and providing food to numerous camps and orphanages.

J/P HRO’s efforts have included managing a camp of 55,000 displaced Haitians, providing emergency medical and primary care services, delivering badly needed medical equipment and medicine, distributing food and setting up a K-8 school in the camp. Our community redevelopment efforts have included removing rubble from streets and neighborhoods and partnering with other organizations in rebuilding neighborhoods. Throughout the country we have distributed water filters, tents, and medical supplies; created mobile medical units for underserviced camps and neighborhoods; set up cholera treatment centers; and provided logistical and personnel support to other NGOs in response to the cholera epidemic.

The J/P Haitian Relief Organization have recently started clearing rubble, on average about 3,500 - 4,000 cubic meters of rubble a week. Each neighborhood has an average of 150,000 cubic meters of rubble which needs to be removed. The rubble clearing has encouraged Haitians to participate in spontaneous clearing efforts themselves. Each day, as they return to work sites, the J/P HRO volunteers can see evidence of people clearing rubble from their home sites by hand, almost doubling the effectiveness of their work. Town squares, now cleared of rubble, have quickly filled with children playing kickball. Teachers, police, nurses, and residents of local IDP camps have already settled into temporary shelters in their old home sites. The emotional, physical and spiritual impact of the rubble removal cannot be underestimated.

J/P HRO has quickly become a leader among Haitian relief organizations. We have been recognized by major international organizations for our camp management, camp resident relocations and rubble removal processes. As the next phase of work in Haiti unfolds, we strive to continue to be leaders—finding new and more efficient ways of bringing relief and empowerment to the people of Haiti.

Sean Penn, unlike Sarah "does my hair look pretty" Palin, is the "rill dill." Meet a real, sincere, grown-up person, a highly intelligent man who thinks deeply about personal responsibility and who is not in Haiti for cheap pictures and fame, but lived there for many months and built up his organization and "walks the walk."

Watch his interview on CBS:

If you are interested to hear more about Sean Penn and his efforts in Haiti and his general thoughts about the situation and the responsibility of richer countries, then please take a look at the long and very interesting interview with Sean Penn on "Democracy Now!" It has several parts, here is the first part:

The other parts of the interview can be watched here:

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

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At the beginning of the post, I mentioned Barack Obama and his "elitist" hobby of playing golf.

Just a few days ago, Lawrence O'Donnell gave a scathing commentary about Sarah Palin, regarding her remarks about Barack Obama playing golf.

What did Sarah say about President Obama and playing golf?

From Time Magazine's story about their "email interview":

So what exactly is at stake? Does Palin really want to be President and assume the burdens that go with the job? Or is she just teasing the Grand Old Party while she lays the foundations for a more comfortable life as a public provocateur, doing TV, writing books, making speeches and dabbling in politics as it serves her greater goals? The former scenario is what many in the Republican Party are dreading; the latter one is freezing the likely GOP presidential field until she clarifies her plans. And Palin, naturally, wisely and consistently, is coy about the answer. "I would run because the country is more important than my ease, though I'm not necessarily living a life of ease," says Palin, who answered questions from TIME via e-mail. And in a shot at Obama's habit of playing golf during the "recovery summer," she added, "I'm very busy helping people and causes. So busy, in fact, I haven't had time to hit the links in quite a few years."

That's what Lawrence O'Donnell had to say about this remark:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

When I searched for this quote, I also found another remark by Sarah Palin which I had missed so far. Another "mean girl" remark about Obama playing golf, but this time, with a different angle. MSNBC reported it like that:

In a joking reference, she predicted defeat for Obama in the 2012 presidential election, saying her TV show would be followed by a sequel called "Barack Obama's Golf Courses", which she said would start up "sometime November 2012".

Greta Van Susteren reported this remark as well - and was more "explicit":

Speaking about her upcoming reality television series, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," Palin joked that the producers of her show are thinking about a sequel called "Barack Obama's golf courses," implying the commander in chief will have plenty of time on his hands after the 2012 elections.

Sarah Palin loves to dish out. But don't pick on her! That would be mean, wouldn't it.

Sarah, you hair looked good in Haiti. Mission accomplished. You can be proud of yourself.

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A Day In The Life Of A Haiti Volunteer Doctor

By BanditBasheert

Hi everyone – RPK asked me to blog an update on the 4+ days that hubs has been in Haiti based upon the emails and pictures I have received.

After about 15 phone calls back and forth, the charter flight left Miami and arrived in beautiful humid Port au Prince



Hubs and the others picked up their luggage on the tarmac went through customs and were trucked to the hospital compound.

New photo:

(This second photo arrived about 10 minutes ago, reporting on a warm, sunny day)

After dumping their bags in the sleeping area everyone got to work.


They are up at 5:30am (most by choice since it’s possible to take a 2 minute shower in reasonably cool water at that hour.) Then it’s off to the coffee tent (they provide the water) and then the day begins.

“So this is shorter than planned. Finished at 7:00 tonight and spent a good part of the day in the OR. I am the wound consult for most of the hospital *nd am working closely with the plastic surgeon from. Amazing what I have seen in one day. Off to have some trail mix and mango chips for dinner. Will try to send more later.”

The days are absolutely crazy busy. Burns, fractures, wounds, crush injuries – it’s never ending. The compound has over 600 people. The UN is next door. The compound is walled off and security is provided by the US Military and the U.N. You are advised to NOT leave the compound alone, even to go to the UN.

“Well, it is a different life down here as expected.
Up at six, shower, shave briefly, brush, put on scrubs, eat a breakfast bar, and head for the meeting. A general briefing and off with out teams. I am with the wound care team, and basically am the only MD on it. A plastic surgeon from the Sun City area is also here, and as we shall see, we interact a lot.

The morning begins with dressing changes in our wound care room, and many are done under some anesthesia. Because most of the patients have been so traumatized, they are very sensitive to pain. We fortunately have a big wound care team, today about 8-9 as the group that will be leaving tomorrow are still working with us today.. Some are really excellent in wound care, and others less so although all are enthusiastic. I participate in some of this, but am often called to consult on wounds on the wards or in other departments. This includes the wound outpatient clinic as well as the pediatric ward. It is amazing what you see."

Days run together. MRE’s have not turned up so everyone is living out of their suitcases. You can run to the UN for a burger and beer, if you can find the time!

“It's now 1:30 and we are about to take our first break. Temp is warm, but not unbearably hot. It's amazing the injuries we see. Most probably earthquake relater, but not all. I seem to be the go to guy to solve management problems when different services are involved.
More later."

The day continues.

“I also spent almost half the day in the OR. Working with the Plastic Surgeon, as well as with other surgeons, on wound problems, and providing a link to the wound service. We took a break, about ½ hour at about 1. The lemon pepper tuna tasted great with a few dried mango slices, I have now just finished at 7:00 PM with the last two burn cases in the OR. Back for a dinner of trail mix, and some dried fruit. It tomorrow is lighter, we may go to the UN compound for dinner and a cold beer. The drinking water here is either tepid or possibly downright warm. The raspberry drink mix tastes really good. MRE's have not been available. Apparently they arrive from time to time. So the food that I brought is really worthwhile.”

OMG he misses “ice” – all water is “tepid”. Fortunately the malaria laden mosquitos haven’t shown up at night. Not everyone brought enough food – so people are sharing. Food is brought into the hospital twice a day but when you are in the OR, you can’t just stop and eat rice and beans! And there is NO place to buy food even if you could leave.

“Wounds care and dressing changes are done under anesthesia. These people are so traumatized that they are highly pain sensitive so you are unable to treat them except in an O.R.”

Yesterday’s email:

“2:30 - lunch time. Today opted for peanut butter on crackers, raisin/cranberry fruit, crystal light with water and a little trail mix for dessert. The latter has to be eaten with a spoon as all the chocolate has melted.

We were told this AM, that this compound will be moving in the next 4-6 weeks as it will flood. They say there was quite a bit of water, even into the main tent with the recent rains. They are trying to move into an actual building and may even have a rehab center. We have many patients here who are only here as they have no place to go, and must have some way of caring for their wounds. Also a fair number of paraplegic with various pressure ulcers."

Today they plan to take the “tour” around PAP and see if they can get some photographs of the damage - they’ve been told it is not officially sanctioned but they realize people are interested so they have a group of drivers that will take 4-5 people on a safe route to photograph.

Will keep you all posted.
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Haiti - A first hand report from CR46

AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos

Palingates and blogger friends,

Volunteering to go to Haiti as a nurse was not done lightly. While I have worked as a building contractor for the last 7 years I have kept my nurses license (RN) current. I attached myself to a volunteer medical group made up of one orthopedist, 8 medical students and 10 RNs.

In the past I have worked as a surgical nurse, ER nurse and NICU nurse. I also have experience in search and rescue (with trained dogs) and in 1985 went to Mexico city to do S&R and stay on as a nurse. I have gone in with family and friends to New Orleans after Katrina to bring in trailers full of bottled water (3 days before FEMA decided to show up) and brought out people in those same trailers. And have been to many smaller, more localized natural disasters over the years. I am also an experienced outdoorsman (woman??) including having been a guide in a wilderness area and winter camping (yes, people do winter camp). But all my previous experiences did not prepare me for Haiti.

Landed at Port Au Prince airport... circled an hour before landing, the airport is not designed for the amount of air traffic coming and going. The airport was organized chaos. The charity we were supposed to help had enough medical manpower since a team had been sent there the day before. So they split us into two groups to go to tent city hospitals set up by the UN and the Haitian government.

In the fading light the ride to the tent city was surreal, I don't think we saw any building of any size that was undamaged. We were introduced to the doctor in charge and given cots to sleep on, but we went right to work. This particular medical team was dealing with an unbelievable amount of patients including patients in very serious condition, though their critical patients had been moved to the Dominican Republic or the States. We worked 12 hour days and usually more, after our shifts we tried to spend extra time with patients, offering comfort and support or doing basics such as bed baths etc. Many "crush" injuries were from falling buildings at the time of the big quake and some of the aftershocks. Many amputee patients will need more surgeries--it is not uncommon for amputees to need more because of infection or nerve pain issues from having initial surgery under non ideal conditions. I assisted in over 15 ( I lost count) amputations because of infected injuries or previous amputations becoming infected. While there were medical supplies and medications available, on a couple of days, when supplies were low, patients had to get by with minimal pain meds--many volunteering to go with a little less (or saying they didn't need it) so we never had to "limit" the children in the tent hospital. Many of these patients would be in a critical care ward of a US hospital.

Most of the following days are a blur, cleaning out wounds, assisting with operations, assisting with a couple of births ( life does go on, and those were happy moments for us) handing out meds, and comforting patients.

Water is still in short supply and was used sparingly and carefully. Food supplies are at subsistance levels, most of our team had brought protein bars and "meal" substitute bars and some dehydrated meals, but we quickly added those to the community kitchen. We ate just enough to maintain our energy but tried not to take too much knowing that we would be back home shortly and that others had greater needs.

While they did dig a few more live victims out during my stay, there are many unaccounted for bodies in the rubble throughout populated areas and depending on how the wind was blowing the stench of death was still in the air. If any of you have ever smelled that stench you will know how it permeates everything, upon arriving back in the states my clothes, boots and even my favorite small backpack went into the garbage and never entered my home. An unpleasant reminder of the vast destruction and the biggest medical concerns of dysentary, cholera and other diseases.

People wandered in everyday to look at patients, to look for their missing relatives and to bring news of others survivals or deaths. Everyone rejoiced if someone got news that a relative was alive, but more often it was about who had died or how many out of a family had died.

Communication systems worked sporadically and the damage and destruction are so wide spread that any services (and Haiti did not have a whole lot to begin with) are almost paralyzed still. This is not a natural disaster where help and safety are a couple of hours drive away--there is nowhere to go when the whole country is affected. These tent cities, at least the one I was in, have poor or non-existent sanitary setups and I fear that when the rainy season comes it will be ripe for spreading of disease.

Are there problems in Haiti? Yes, many...

An ineffective, poor government to start with (Too bad the US abandoned helping Haiti in the 1960's--interesting history--look it up, I'll try and not politicize this)
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A massive disaster that has damaged not a county, state, but a WHOLE country.

Looting of supply trucks (these looters are average citizens trying to feed their families)... I would loot to feed my family... would you?

Are supplies and services still "slow" getting to where they are needed?... yes, but by listening to others who had been there throughout the disaster it is improving daily. In an operation of this magnitude that is not unique for it to take time to put into place.


My personal feelings about Haiti...

They will need help for months , if not years. If you can find it in your heart and wallet, consider making more donations when you can. While I do not want to diss any charities or tell you who to give to, the UN's WFP (World Food Program) is setting up a long term plan of action and help. Any charity that will address housing and building issues in the coming months would also put any donations to good use, or charities that are sending in medical teams.

Try to skip one coffee or soda a week and send that amount if you can... any dollar amount will help and many donations are already responsible for people surviving.

We take so many things for granted... such as safe drinking water...that it is unreal to even imagine what it is like without such basics. It will take a long time for the images to leave my mind. The smell of death is still with me, in my head anyway. I sit here drinking a glass of ice water... just thinking how lucky I am...

(I did bring a camera, but never took the time to take pictures---sorry. All my time (except for the ride to and from) was in the Tent city and Tent city hospital tents... I didn't think it was right for medical personnel to take pics, somehow I thought it ran into that "gray area" of ethics, at least for me.)

Thank you so much for this report, CR46. The average public only come into contact with these events from watching TV and it's easy to become desensitized, unable to "feel" for our fellow human beings, almost as if what we see on the screen is some work of fiction. Your report takes us to a grim reality that cannot be ignored.

To help with the reconstruction, Architecture For Humanity has launched a campaign. Other organizations involved in long term projects:





Banners with direct links were included in the sidebar.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE - Credit card fraud

We have received the following e-mail from Bandit Basheert:

My husband's credit card was used 3 times fraudulently yesterday (fortunately our card company smacked it closed and notified us) - anyway he just got a note from Small Dog Electronics that said they were hacked and someone obtained credit card info. They were the company that matched the Haiti Donations and that we put onto the blog.

I'll send you more info as I get it...

If you have donated to the Haiti Appeal through Small Dog Electronics please check with your credit card company and take the necessary steps to prevent fraudulent use of your card.

E-mail from Small Dog:

NOTICE OF POTENTIAL CREDIT CARD INFORMATION BREACH

Thank you for your recent order to Small Dog Electronics. We greatly appreciate your business and hope that you will come back again. Small Dog Electronics strives to protect your privacy in placing orders at our web site.

I am very sorry to report that we have had a security breach in our database during the period of time that your order was placed. As a result, it is possible that your credit card information has fallen into the hands of those making this unauthorized intrusion into our order system.

The security breach has been corrected and our database is now fully secure.

Please examine your credit card statement as soon as posible and contact your credit card's
issuing bank to dispute any unauthorized charges and have your credit card replaced.

Monitoring of your credit report can be obtained at http://www.privacyguard.com
Note, you can also check your credit report at the offical site required by The Fair Credit Reporting Act: https://www.annualcreditreport.com

Please accept our most sincere apologies. We take your privacy and your trust very seriously.
We are committed to making customers for life and while I do not like to have to inform you of
this temporary security breach, we know that it is the right thing to do.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need further information. You may also contact Cindy Fuller, assistant controller at cindy@smalldog.com or call 800-511-6227 ext 618

Sincerely,

Don Mayer
CEO
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